In less than a month, the Mavericks probably will own the sports world’s longest active sellout streak.

Just about everybody expects the Boston Red Sox, who have sold out 793 consecutive games, to have that run snapped in Game 2 this season. Their CEO, Larry Lucchino, already has said, “It’s going to rest in peace, I think, sometime in April.”

That will leave the Mavericks, who have sold out 463 consecutive games going back to Dec. 15, 2001, as the longest-running sellout kings.

Through the entirety of that streak, they have been playoff mainstays — 12 consecutive trips to the NBA postseason, a streak that is in serious danger this season.

Which brings up the question of how the Mavericks have been able to keep selling out American Airlines Center, which seats 19,600 and can accommodate well over 20,000 with standing room.

Even the king Maverick himself — Dirk Nowitzki, not owner Mark Cuban — has been a bit surprised.

“Obviously, they’re a little spoiled with a lot of winning seasons,” Nowitzki said of the fans. “But even this year, they came out and supported us. We lost some home games that we shouldn’t have lost.

“They didn’t boo us when I thought early in the season they had a chance to. So honestly, I think they’ve been great and believing in us and pushing us and, hopefully we can reward them with a nice little push at the playoffs.”

The truth is the Mavericks’ business office wasn’t overly concerned about the attendance streak ending this season. They had sold out their season-ticket allotment before the Mavericks had played a game, all 14,500 seats. The team holds the rest back for individual-game sales and walk-up purchases.

And they’ve made a lot of the same deals they have made in the past to keep the walk-up turnstile spinning. You can find discounted Mavericks tickets at many sites on the Internet. The team even offers upper-level seats for as low as $10 via its website and at the AAC box office.

And while there are some games where small blocks of seats are empty, the Mavericks and every other sports team base sellouts on tickets distributed, not actual gate count. And having a full arena is a hugely valuable asset to a franchise, said David M. Carter, executive director of the USC Marshall Sports Business Institute and founder of the Sports Business Group.

“The value to the franchise is both tangible and intangible,” Carter said. “Empty seats don’t buy hot dogs and have yet to pay for parking, so in some cases it can make sense to steeply discount tickets.

“Also, a full arena has a buzz about it, the sense that it is ‘the place to be,’ and this adds to the brand cache.”

Wait ’til next year

What should have the Mavericks concerned is next season. Assuming the Mavericks end up in the NBA lottery, it’s going to be a harder sell to have those 14,500 season-ticket holders re-up. Those renewal notices are set to go out soon, said Terdema Ussery, the Mavericks’ president and CEO.

“We know before the season starts how many tickets we’re going to leave for game-day sales, which we do intentionally,” Ussery said. “You want people to be able to walk up and buy tickets. You don’t want people think there’s no need to come to the gate because there’s nothing there.

“How much more difficult it’s been [to keep the streak alive this year]? All we’ve done is focused on putting on the best show we can put on and keeping people entertained. We haven’t adjusted anything. The fans continue to come out. There are always going to be variations. It may be a Monday night and it’s cold as opposed to a Wednesday or a Friday.

“But at the end of the day, it’s important for us to put on a good show and continue to reinforce, as I say to our staff, that we’re throwing 44 parties a year for 20,000 of our closest friends. We want to make sure that when those people come out and spend an evening with us, the only thing on their mind is coming back and doing it again.”

Keeping the sellout streak going is important to the Mavericks because it allows them to sell signage in the arena for a premium price. The fewer eyeballs looking at those advertisements, the lower the investment return is for sponsors.

One look around the arena, and it’s easy to see that corporate sponsors believe it’s a wise partnership with the Mavericks. Everything from clothing to casinos can be seen advertising in the arena.

And, of course, the entertainment value in the arena — beyond basketball — is off the charts. Ask anybody who has been to the majority of arenas in the NBA, and it’s a no-brainer that the Mavericks have the coolest in-game presentation.

Whether it’s hot dancers in skimpy outfits, fat guys doing silly stuff or wacky videos like the one that is a take-off of the DIRECTV ad that proclaims: Don’t end up with a grandson in a dog collar.

On the Mavericks’ big screen, it’s: Don’t end up with a Spurs fan in a dog collar.

They have an extensive department led by creative director Cash Sirois, editor/producer Jason Seely and interactive web manager Steve Chavera that pumps out those crazy videos.

“The expense isn’t huge, but the effort is huge,” Ussery said. “Our competition for the discretionary dollar transcends sports. We’re in the entertainment business. All the other activities you can do in Dallas, we’re competing against all those people.

“For us, it’s all about making sure people have a great time from the time they step in the building. We want to be best-in-class. And we have a bunch of young, creative guys who get a real kick out of doing wacky stuff.

“Some of the television ads that we copy and add to, they get a big kick out of it. And we’ve won a couple Emmys for what we’ve done.”

Bells and whistles

Of course, other teams do it differently. In Los Angeles, the Lakers do very little extraneous entertainment because the crowd is different. They come to see the team and Jack Nicholson or whatever other Hollywood stars happen to be at that game.

In New York, Madison Square Garden sells itself with only a modest amount of entertainment bells and whistles.

And, of course, in-arena distractions only go so far.

“Ultimately, and in order keep the cash registers humming, you have to have a winning team, one that does so with some flare, and that is complemented by a great in-venue experience,” Carter said.

In Dallas, the entertainment on the video boards, during timeouts and at halftime is off the charts. And that’s part of the experience for fans. We will find out next season if the lukewarm results of the team impact the sellout streak.

“It’s a tribute to our fans and also the organization,” said Nowitzki, who has to catch himself sometimes in timeouts to keep from paying too much attention to whatever funny stuff might be going on.

“Mark’s always busy with the community and putting stuff out there for the fans. He keeps the players recognizable. There’s always stuff going on in the arena. It’s supposed to be entertainment. And we couldn’t give them as much entertainment on the court as we wanted to this year.

“But hopefully, we can still turn it around and get some good wins.”

Even if they don’t, the fans still seem to enjoy a night at a Mavericks game.

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